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astrilde's review against another edition
4.0
At least it isn't just me who thinks Allaire needs to get her hands dirty and carry her own weight once in a while.
tracey_stewart's review against another edition
4.0
Full review (yes, even longer) at my blog: http://agoldoffish.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/susan-dexter-the-ring-of-allaire/
The basic structure of the story – of Allaire, and of the trilogy as a whole – is almost formulaic. A young man (19, I believe), orphaned very young and raised by, apprenticed to a wizard, is set on a huge quest even though he is not the most … ept of lads. He finds himself shoved into a destiny he never would have imagined, and for which would never assume himself capable. But, in the classic tradition, there’s no one else to do it: he is it. The first quest turns into a series of quests, which lead to one great Quest, to in effect save the world, with a wildly assorted group of traveling companions.
That right there could describe a great many fantasy novels. But that’s where these books and formula part company. Tristan, the apprentice, should be cookie cutter: he’s the young proto-magician who is called upon to be a hero, who can’t even pull off a simple spell without disaster. But Tristan ranks high among my favorite fictional characters. The majority of the three books use his point of view, and he’s an excellent traveling companion. For all his faults – and he does have faults – he also ranks high among the fictional characters I would like to meet. He is selfless in several ways; he is embarrassed by his many failures and fumbles and accidents but doesn’t let that keep him from making efforts, and it doesn’t distance him from others. He tries, he fails, he grits his teeth and picks himself up and moves on. And, too, he’s big-hearted; his loyalty, once given, is solid.
He and his master Blais live quietly apart from a village by the sea in the east of Calandra, and muddle along quite well, making their living with love philtres and minor weather witchings. There’s much call for the latter, because Calandra - and beyond – has for centuries been more and more under the spell of Nímir. No one knows exactly who or what Nímir is, but he’s evil, and powerful, and bent on – to inappropriately reference C.S. Lewis – making it always winter and never Christmas. Kind of like this past winter, only to the point where if spring is seen it’s brief and feeble.
There is a prophecy that Nímir can be defeated by a team made up of a wizard, the true heir to the throne of Calandra (which seat has been vacant for a very long time), and Valadan, the war-horse of Esdragon, a stallion who is said to have been sired by the wind and is effectively immortal. He is magic. And he’s gone. But Blais, as it turns out, has been researching the prophecies for most of his life, and must have come across something, because Nímir kills him one fine afternoon while his apprentice is out. Tristan comes home to find his master vanished, and only a message and a spell left behind, a spell which puts him on the path to find Valadan.
With him from the cottage go Thomas, a cat who scorns the title of familiar, and who is another of my favorite characters; and Minstrel, the eagle-hearted canary who refuses to be left behind simply because he is small and fragile. Dexter's handling of animal characters should be required reading for anyone who plans to do anything remotely similar - it's note-perfect.
It's a wonderful start to a wonderful series - four stars only to leave room for The Mountains of Channadran.
The basic structure of the story – of Allaire, and of the trilogy as a whole – is almost formulaic. A young man (19, I believe), orphaned very young and raised by, apprenticed to a wizard, is set on a huge quest even though he is not the most … ept of lads. He finds himself shoved into a destiny he never would have imagined, and for which would never assume himself capable. But, in the classic tradition, there’s no one else to do it: he is it. The first quest turns into a series of quests, which lead to one great Quest, to in effect save the world, with a wildly assorted group of traveling companions.
That right there could describe a great many fantasy novels. But that’s where these books and formula part company. Tristan, the apprentice, should be cookie cutter: he’s the young proto-magician who is called upon to be a hero, who can’t even pull off a simple spell without disaster. But Tristan ranks high among my favorite fictional characters. The majority of the three books use his point of view, and he’s an excellent traveling companion. For all his faults – and he does have faults – he also ranks high among the fictional characters I would like to meet. He is selfless in several ways; he is embarrassed by his many failures and fumbles and accidents but doesn’t let that keep him from making efforts, and it doesn’t distance him from others. He tries, he fails, he grits his teeth and picks himself up and moves on. And, too, he’s big-hearted; his loyalty, once given, is solid.
He and his master Blais live quietly apart from a village by the sea in the east of Calandra, and muddle along quite well, making their living with love philtres and minor weather witchings. There’s much call for the latter, because Calandra - and beyond – has for centuries been more and more under the spell of Nímir. No one knows exactly who or what Nímir is, but he’s evil, and powerful, and bent on – to inappropriately reference C.S. Lewis – making it always winter and never Christmas. Kind of like this past winter, only to the point where if spring is seen it’s brief and feeble.
There is a prophecy that Nímir can be defeated by a team made up of a wizard, the true heir to the throne of Calandra (which seat has been vacant for a very long time), and Valadan, the war-horse of Esdragon, a stallion who is said to have been sired by the wind and is effectively immortal. He is magic. And he’s gone. But Blais, as it turns out, has been researching the prophecies for most of his life, and must have come across something, because Nímir kills him one fine afternoon while his apprentice is out. Tristan comes home to find his master vanished, and only a message and a spell left behind, a spell which puts him on the path to find Valadan.
With him from the cottage go Thomas, a cat who scorns the title of familiar, and who is another of my favorite characters; and Minstrel, the eagle-hearted canary who refuses to be left behind simply because he is small and fragile. Dexter's handling of animal characters should be required reading for anyone who plans to do anything remotely similar - it's note-perfect.
It's a wonderful start to a wonderful series - four stars only to leave room for The Mountains of Channadran.
mareeta_rose's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A very fun, very traditional fantasy story. It's got all of the typical tropes but uses them in an enjoyable way. I highly recommend!
omiai's review
5.0
Given that I'm usually skeptical about fantasy not written in the last 20 years, and that, from first glance, this looks like it will be a typical fantasy where the characters are lifeless and dull, they go on a quest and you couldn't care less about the result, but this is far from the truth in this case!
Yes, this is quite a short book at 231 pages, but you get taken straight into the action which is non-stop from start to finish. You feel a bit overwhelmed sometimes because there is no time to stop and breathe! But it is worth it! This was one of those books I just wanted to keep reading to see what happened, and subsequently, I'm now desperate to read the next 2 books in the series (which luckily i already have!).
Amazingly, for such a short book, it doesn't seem to loose it's depth. The fault of many short fantasy books is that the characters turn out lifeless, the story rushed and a bit pointless, but this doesn't happen here! Wonderful!
On its own, without being part of a series, this book works wonderfully. It could be a complete tale in it's own right, like all good books should.
I loved the characters, and although the human characters were great, the animal characters are as much the heroes of this tale as the humans are! Thomas the cat, minstrel the bird and Valadan the horse are all excellent characters! Thomas in particular I adored! What is it about fantasy authors and their abilities to give such great personalities to cats?! I think it's brilliant! And they aren't just sidekicks who happen to be travelling with them, they are real, useful characters who provide just as much to the story as the people.
The human characters, given that they are supposed to be the main characters, should also be mentioned. Tristan is a brilliant character, he isn't whiney or annoying, he's very accepting of things given that he is a wizard, but still interesting enough that you worry when tragedy strikes. The girls in the book, Allaire and Elisena are, rarely for books in general (in my opinion!), not overly annoying! They turn up and although they don't do much at first to push the story along, and really get in the way quite a bit, they are still loveable characters. Polassar is a strange one. He was a good character, he made me laugh, but I couldn't quite work out his purpose in the greater scheme of the book, but I'm still glad he was there!
I recommend this if you are a fantasy fan looking for a quick, enjoyable read, you shouldn't be disappointed!
Yes, this is quite a short book at 231 pages, but you get taken straight into the action which is non-stop from start to finish. You feel a bit overwhelmed sometimes because there is no time to stop and breathe! But it is worth it! This was one of those books I just wanted to keep reading to see what happened, and subsequently, I'm now desperate to read the next 2 books in the series (which luckily i already have!).
Amazingly, for such a short book, it doesn't seem to loose it's depth. The fault of many short fantasy books is that the characters turn out lifeless, the story rushed and a bit pointless, but this doesn't happen here! Wonderful!
On its own, without being part of a series, this book works wonderfully. It could be a complete tale in it's own right, like all good books should.
I loved the characters, and although the human characters were great, the animal characters are as much the heroes of this tale as the humans are! Thomas the cat, minstrel the bird and Valadan the horse are all excellent characters! Thomas in particular I adored! What is it about fantasy authors and their abilities to give such great personalities to cats?! I think it's brilliant! And they aren't just sidekicks who happen to be travelling with them, they are real, useful characters who provide just as much to the story as the people.
The human characters, given that they are supposed to be the main characters, should also be mentioned. Tristan is a brilliant character, he isn't whiney or annoying, he's very accepting of things given that he is a wizard, but still interesting enough that you worry when tragedy strikes. The girls in the book, Allaire and Elisena are, rarely for books in general (in my opinion!), not overly annoying! They turn up and although they don't do much at first to push the story along, and really get in the way quite a bit, they are still loveable characters. Polassar is a strange one. He was a good character, he made me laugh, but I couldn't quite work out his purpose in the greater scheme of the book, but I'm still glad he was there!
I recommend this if you are a fantasy fan looking for a quick, enjoyable read, you shouldn't be disappointed!
rjandersonwriter's review
4.0
I have not read this book in well over twenty years, but I remember loving it and re-reading it several times as a teen, and that's good enough for me.
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